A botanical guide to Thanksgiving dinner

November 27, 2008

Here is a list of all the plants that we ate this Thanksgiving dinner. We made our usual dinner for 10 people, family and guests. Below the plant list is a list of the dishes we made.  Corn appears in many items that may not be obvious, such as mashed potatoes. However, turkey and dairy products are made from animals fed almost entirely on corn. So any item containing dairy products is listed as containing corn. The total number of plants is 42, though a few are different varieties of the same species. Sugar is of two potential sources, sugar cane and beet sugar. It happens that all the sugar we have on hand is cane sugar. Sugar not labeled as cane sugar is generally beet sugar.

We’d be interested in any other plants that you might have eaten this Thanksgiving. Please add in comments, and tell us both what plant you used (don’t worry about the species name and family) and in what dish you used the plant. 

Common name Species Family Dish
kiwi Actinidia deliciosa Actinidiaceae 15
red onion Allium cepa Alliaceae 4
yellow onion Allium cepa Alliaceae 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 14
spinach Spinacia oleracea Amaranthaceae 15
garlic Allium sativum Amaryllidaceae 2, 3, 4, 5, 9, 11
green onions Allium cepa Amaryllidaceae 11
celery Apium graveolens Apiaceae 2, 3, 11
collard greens Brassica oleracea Brassicaceae 5
kale Brassica oleracea Brassicaceae 5
rape (oil) Brassica napus Brassicaceae 15
turnip greens Brassica rapa Brassicaceae 5
pineapple Anana comus Bromeliaceae 7
sweet potatoes Ipomoea batatas Convolulaceae 8
pumpkin Cucurbita pepo Cucurbitaceae 14
cranberry Vaccinium macrocarpon Ericaceae 3, 1
green beans Phaseoulus vulgaris Fabaceae 4
peanut (oil) Arachis hypogaea Fabaceae 1, 2, 3
soy (oil) Glycine max Fabaceae 15
pecans Carya illinoiensis Juglandaceae 8
marjoram Majorana hortensis Lamiaceae 1, 2, 3
rosemary Rosmarinus officinalis Lamiaceae 1, 2, 3
sage Salvia officinalis Lamiaceae 1, 2, 3
thyme Thymus vulgaris Lamiaceae 1, 4, 11
cinnamon Cinnamomum verum Lauraceae 14
fig Ficus sp. Moraceae 3,
Cavendish banana Musa acuminata Musaceae 7, 15
nutmeg Myristica sp. Myristicaceae 11, 14
cloves Syzygium aromaticum Myrtaceae 14
olive (oil) Olea europea Oleaceae 4, 5, 8, 11
vanilla Vanilla planifolia Orchidaceae 14
black pepper Piper nigrum Piperaceae 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 9, 11, 15
corn Zea mays Poaceae 1,2,3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 14, 16
sugar cane Saccharum sp. Poaceae 7, 8, 10, 14
wheat Triticum aestivum Poaceae 3, 16
apple Malus sp. Rosaceae 1,3,5
cherries Prunus avium Rosaceae 13
strawberry Fraxinum x ananassa Rosaceae 7, 15
lemon Citrus limon Rutaceae 1, 11
navel orange Citrus sinensis Rutaceae 15
tangelo Citrus x tangelo Rutaceae 15
potatoes Solanum tuberosum Solanaceae 9
ginger Zingiber offinale Zingiberaceae 14

 

Dishes:

1 Cranberry-Glazed Turkey
2 Corn Bread Dressing
3 Fruit bread dressing
4 Green Beans & Red Onions
5 Greens in apple cider
6 Rolls & Butter
7 Strawberry Jello Salad
8 Sweet potatoes with Pecans, Brown Sugar
9 Mashed potatoes
10 Cranberry Sauce
11 Southern Oyster Casserole
12 Apple Cider
13 Cherry Cider
14 Pumpkin pie
15 Green salad with fruit
16 macaroni & cheese

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